Abstract
This book was edited by Helen M. G. Watt, an educational psychologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles, a developmental psychologist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Both editors are well known for their contributions to the field of gender and occupational outcomes. Watt contributes both the introductory chapter and an additional chapter on the role of motivation in the choice of a career. Eccles is coauthor of 2 of the 12 chapters.
The theoretical basis followed in several of the studies, including those in Chapters 4, 7, and 8, is the Eccles expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation (Eccles et al., 1983). Eccles et al. collected data in six waves, from 1983 to 2000, for the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Adult Life Transitions (MSALT). MSALT data covered participants of both sexes, beginning in the sixth grade and ending when participants were young adults dispersed into a variety of educational, family, and employment roles. Data were collected from teachers and parents, as well as participant students, using both surveys and interviews and are broadly representative of social class. Eccles's (1987, 2007) research findings as well as those of her associates shed important light on how career-related interests and values develop in children as they interact with their environments. The secondary analyses of MSALT data presented in this book focus on factors predicting interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations. MSALT data are available to other researchers through the Harvard archive system, accessible at www.hmdc.harvard.edu.
Other feminist theories of women's career development and occupational choices introduced in the 1980s include those of Gottfredson, updated in Brown (2002), and of Betz and others, updated in Walsh and Heppner (2005). Extensive research in the early 1970s, following the passage of sex-equity legislation, addressed women's unequal representation in the U.S. labor market (Farmer & Backer, 1977). By the 1980s, some progress had been made for women with respect to increased access to many formerly male-dominated occupations. However, there was one occupational area that remained strongly dominated by men, and that was the STEM occupational field. This inequity became a priority for research at the National Science Foundation more than two decades ago (National Science Foundation, 1997) and some gains have been made since then (Klein, 2007; Walsh & Heppner, 2005) but there is a continuing lack of parity in educational opportunities, employment, salary, and promotion policies related to STEM occupations (Brown, 2002; Klein, 2007; National Science Foundation, 2004; Walsh, & Heppner, 2005). A majority of the studies reported in Watt and Eccles's book examine the reasons for the continuing gender gap in STEM occupations. Among these are math as a critical filter, parents' gender-typed beliefs about appropriate occupational choices, and the continuing lack of equal sharing of responsibility on the part of men for raising children and running a household. Findings reported in the book indicate that many of the reasons for the lack of gender parity in STEM occupations are common to such countries as the United States, Canada, and Australia, whereas some unique aspects of the STEM gender gap are identified in countries such as Germany, Turkey, and Japan.
The title of the book might lead the reader to believe that the studies are addressing occupational outcomes. In fact, most of the studies begin with boys and girls in high school and end with data from the same participants in their senior year or, occasionally, when they are in some form of postsecondary education. The occupational choices made at this stage in their development are aspired occupational choices, and there is ample research to show that career aspirations frequently change in later years (Farmer, Wardrop, & Rotella, 1999). Exceptions are the studies in Part IV of the book that focus on employed women and the disparities on a variety of dimensions between men and women in STEM fields. These international studies reported from Turkey, French Canada, Japan, the United States, and 15 countries in the European Union provide evidence of cultural similarities with and differences from the United States. The reader should be cautioned not to expect all studies to be representative of broad socioeconomic and cultural groups. The exception is studies using MSALT data.
Two chapters in the book add variety to the focus of most of the research studies presented. Chapter 5 illustrates the benefits of using the latent growth curve statistic along with structural equation modeling techniques (Byrne & Crombie, 2003) with multiwave longitudinal data sets. Chapter 9 presents the potential effects of excessive amounts of androgens present during the development of female fetuses on STEM occupational choices.
The authors take a feminist perspective in several ways. Most of the studies include both personal and contextual factors, compare data for girls and women with comparable data for boys and men, include qualitative and quantitative data, have collaborative investigators, and have potential for practical applications that would increase gender equity. Researchers are interdisciplinary and include psychologists, sociologists, and biologists.
This book is a gold mine for researchers interested in greater equity for women in STEM occupations. Perhaps the most important contribution of this book to feminist scholarship and to gender equity for STEM careers is the drawing together of not only several impressive longitudinal studies but also studies from at least 20 developed nations worldwide. It should be noted, however, that, although the editors suggest that the book will also be of interest to counselors, educators, and policy makers, the research findings presented are suggestive at this point and limited in terms of generalizability, a fact that chapter authors are quick to point out. Therefore, the studies presented will be most useful to researchers and to graduate students and their professors interested in the topic.